Biden: It’s ‘Patriotic’ for Wealthy People to Pay Higher Taxes

Wealthy people who will pay more taxes under an Obama-Biden administration should consider it their patriotic duty, Sen. Joe Biden said on Thursday.

(CNSNews.com) – Wealthy people who will pay higher income taxes under an Obama-Biden administration should consider it their patriotic duty, Sen. Joe Biden said on Thursday.

Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden want to “take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people," Biden told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday.

"It's time to be patriotic,” Biden said. “Time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut. And the way to do that is -- they’re still going to pay less taxes than they paid under Reagan.”

Under the Obama-Biden tax plan, people (and small businesses) earning more than $250,000 a year would pay more in taxes while those earning less (95 percent of Americans, they say) would receive a tax cut.

In a recent interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly, Obama said that wealthy people can afford to pay more. It’s the neighborly thing to do, he said.

“If I am sitting pretty, and you’ve got a waitress who is making minimum wage plus tips, and I can afford it and she can’t -- what’s the big deal for me to say, ‘I’m going to pay a little bit more.’ That is neighborliness,” Obama told O’Reilly. (See earlier story)

Obama said he favors a return to the 39 percent income tax bracket for the highest earners -- and that would include both himself and O’Reilly, he noted.

'Painful icome taxes'

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is taking aim at Obama's "tax and spend" plan in a new political ad.

"Sen. Obama and his Democratic congressional allies want a massive government -- billion so spending increases, wasteful pork. And we would pay -- painful income taxes, skyrocketing taxes on life savings, electricity and home heating oil. Can your family afford that?" the ad says.